Second-Half Effort Not Enough as Blue Falls to Warriors

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 5, 2017 – The Oklahoma City Blue (0-1) dropped the first game of the best-of-three series with the Santa Cruz Warriors (1-0), 121-120, on Wednesday night.

After the Warriors took a 106-92 lead with a little over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City went on a 15-0 run and took its first lead of the game, 107-106, on a three-pointer from Reggie Williams. There were six lead changes in the final frame, but Santa Cruz went on an 8-2 run that put the team back in control.

Reggie Williams finished with 16 points, 13 in the second half, eight assists and five rebounds.

Oklahoma City trailed 61-47 at halftime, but had a dominant open to the third quarter. Dakari Johnson and Josh Huestis combined for 20 points to open the quarter, leaving Oklahoma City only trailing 74-72 with six minutes left in the third.

Johnson turned in 28 points and 11 rebounds while Huestis, on assignment from the Thunder, tallied a career-high tying 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Blue outscored the Warriors, 73-60, in the second half and shot 52.3 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc.

“I thought we played much more aggressively in the second half,” Head Coach Mark Daigneault said. “There are definitely things we can learn from going into game two.”

Oklahoma City had six players in double figures, including 12 points for Dez Wells off the bench. Daniel Hamilton narrowly missed a double-double, contributing 15 points and nine assists to go along with seven rebounds.

The series moves to Oklahoma City for Game 2 on Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m. in the Cox Convention Center.